A Room of My Own: Pain Tanka

staring at myself

I punch it, punch it

hard and fast ...

as if I could expel pain

from inside to outside

Note: The tanka above  is written in the style of Onihishigitei.

Onihishigitei is the style of demon-quelling force, and it is characterized by its “strong or even vulgar diction.” (Brower, p. 406) This style refers to poems whose “imagery or treatment conveys an impression of violence. Such poems are found in particular in Book XVI of Man’yoshū." (Brower and Miner, p. 247)

-- excerpted from my "To the Lighthouse" post, "Onihishigitei, Style of Demon-Quelling Force" 

Butterfly Dream: Winter Solstice Haiku by Olivier Schopfer

English Original

endless closed doors along the hotel hallway winter solstice

Modern Haiku, 48:1, Winter-Spring 2017

Olivier Schopfer


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

沿著酒店走廊一個接一個關閉的門冬至

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

沿着酒店走廊一个接一个关闭的门冬至


Bio Sketch

Olivier Schopfer lives in Geneva, Switzerland. He likes to capture the moment in haiku and photography. His work has appeared in The Red Moon Anthology of English-Language Haiku 2014 & 2016, as well as in numerous online and print journals such as Acorn, bottle rockets, Chrysanthemum, Failed Haiku, Modern Haiku, The Heron's Nest. He also writes articles in French about etymology and everyday expressions: http://olivierschopferracontel esmots.blog.24heures.ch/

Butterfly Dream: Crows Haiku by Polona Oblak

English Original

crows until the world is silhouettes

The Heron's Nest, 17:4, December 2015

Polona Oblak


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

烏鴉聚集在一起直到世界成為黑色剪影

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

乌鸦聚集在一起直到世界成为黑色剪影


Bio Sketch

Polona Oblak lives and works in Ljubljana, Slovenia. For 40 odd years Polona thought she had no talent for writing. Then she discovered haiku. Her haiku and occasional tanka are widely published and a handful appeared in anthologies such as The Red Moon Anthology and Take Five.

Butterfly Dream: Starry Night Haiku by Martha Magenta

English Original

starry night
the draught horse’s shoes
spark on concrete

The Heron’s Nest, 18:4, December 2016

Martha Magenta


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

星光燦爛的夜晚
一匹選秀馬的鐵蹄
在混凝土上激發火花

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

星光灿烂的夜晚
一匹选秀马的铁蹄
在混凝土上激发火花


Bio Sketch

Martha Magenta lives in England, UK. Her haiku, and tanka have appeared in many journals, and anthologies.  She was awarded Honourable Mentions for her haiku in The Fifth Annual Peggy Willis Lyles Haiku Awards, 2017,  and in the 71st Basho Memorial English Haiku Contest, 2017, and for her tanka in UHTS “Fleeting Words” Tanka  Contest 2017.

One Man's Maple Moon: Crying Tanka by Sylvia Forges-Ryan

English Original

my new neighbor
can hear her crying
now and then --
my friend who lived there
before she took her own life   

Atlas Poetica Special Feature: Supernatural Tanka, 2013

Sylvia Forges-Ryan


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

我的新鄰居
不時地可以聽到
她的哭聲 --
在自殺之前我的朋友
曾經住在那裡

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

我的新邻居
不时地可以听到
她的哭声 -
在自杀之前我的朋友
曾经住在那里


Bio Sketch

Sylvia Forges-Ryan, a former Frogpond editor, is the author of Take a Deep Breath, The Haiku Way to Inner Peace. Her latest book, What Light There Is, consists of haiku, senryu, and tanka, with art work by Ion Codrescu. Both books have been selected for permanent inclusion in the Beinecke Library at Yale University.

Butterfly Dream: Mother's Day Haiku by Marisa Fazio

English Original

Mother’s Day --
father quietly tending
his roses

They Gave Us Life: Celebrating Mothers and Fathers and Others in Haiku

Marisa Fazio


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

母親節 --
父親安靜地照料
他的玫瑰

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

母亲节 --
父亲安静地照料
他的玫瑰


Bio Sketch

Marisa Fazio is a writer from Melbourne, Australia. Her haiku have been published in numerous journals and anthologies.

Butterfly Dream: Pails of Sunshine Haiku by Keith A. Simmonds

English Original

children at the beach
pouring pails of sunshine
back into the sea

Distinguished Work, 4th Yamadera Basho Memorial Museum Haiku Contest

Keith A. Simmonds


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

孩子們在沙灘
傾倒一桶又一桶的陽光
回到大海

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

孩子们在沙滩
倾倒一桶又一桶的阳光
回到大海


Bio Sketch

Keith A. Simmonds was born in Barbados and is a citizen of both Trinidad & Tobago and France. He was a  teacher of French language and literature at the secondary-school level in Trinidad & Tobago for twenty-five  years. He is a lover of all types of poetry and has been writing haiku seriously since 2004. Some of his works appear  in Mainichi Daily News, Capoliveri, Cascina Macondo, Simply Haiku, Yamadera Basho Memorial Museum Haiku,  and Shamrock.

One Man's Maple Moon: Koi Pond Tanka by Marilyn Fleming

English Original

lotus blossom
in a koi pond
with each breath
losing more
of myself

Frameless Sky, June 2017

Marilyn Fleming


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

錦鯉池塘中
的一朵蓮花
在每次的吸氣和吐氣之間
我失去更多
的自己

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

锦鲤池塘中
的一朵莲花
在每次的吸气和吐气之间
我失去更多
的自己


Bio Sketch

Marilyn Fleming is a Wisconsin short form poet and sumi-e haiga artist. Her special interests are Asian forms of poetry (haiku tanka and haibun.) She is widely published in US as well as internationally.  To see some of her recent work, visit  her website or follow her on twitter: @mflem9811

Butterfly Dream: Father's Day Haiku by David He

English Original

Father's Day ...
scattering rice grains
around the grave

David He


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

父親節 ...
在墳墓四周
潑撒米粒

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

父亲节...
在坟墓四周
泼撒米粒


Bio Sketch

David He has been working as an advanced English teacher for 35 years in a high school in China. So far he has published  twenty short stories in English. In recent years he has published haiku and tanka in print journals and e-zines, including Acorn, The Heron’s Nest, Frogpond, Ribbons and Cattails.

A Room of My Own: Party of Three Haiku

drifting downstream
the moon, a winter star
and my shadow

One Man's Maple Moon: Knothole Tanka by Rebecca Drouilhet

English Original

the knothole
where a branch once grew ...
I carry
the scars of a past
that isn't past at all

Moonbathing, 17, 2017

Rebecca Drouilhet


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

這個樹幹結洞
曾有一根樹枝長出來 ...
我仍背負
尚未結束之過去
的一些傷疤

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

这个树干结洞
曾有一根树枝长出来 ...
我仍背负
尚未结束之过去
的一些伤疤


Bio Sketch

Rebecca Drouilhet is a retired registered nurse whose haiku and tanka have appeared in numerous print journal and ezines.  She won a Sakura Award in the 2012 Vancouver Cherry Blossom Haiku Invitation and an Honorable Mention in that same contest in 20`7.  The Japanese Tanka Poets Society has awarded her a Certificate of Fine Tanka.  In her free time, she enjoys reading, playing word games and spending time with her large family in Picayune, Mississippi.

Butterfly Dream: Smell of the Sea Haiku by Bryan Rickert

English Original

summer’s end
I unpack
the smell of the sea

The Heron’s Nest, 18:3, September 2016

Bryan Rickert


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

夏天結束了
我打開行李裝著
大海的氣味

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

夏天结束了
我打开行李装着
大海的气味


Bio Sketch

Bryan Rickert, lives with his wife and two daughters in Southern Illinois, USA and has degrees in art and education. After teaching in urban schools for fifteen years, Bryan changed careers and is now a roaster in the coffee industry. He has been studying and writing senryu/haiku since 2012

Butterfly Dream: Nursing Home Haiku by Eva Limbach

English Original

nursing home --
a sip of water for
the potted violet

The Heron's Nest, 19:3, September 2017

Eva Limbach


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

養老院 --
吸一口水用來澆
盆栽紫羅蘭

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

养老院 --
吸一口水用来浇
盆栽紫罗兰


Bio Sketch

Born in Germany in 1958. Living in Saarbrücken, a German town near the French border. Since 2012 Eva Limbach has been writing haiku, senryu  and sometimes haibun.

One Man's Maple Moon: Gypsy Music Tanka by Neal Whitman

English Original

a lion
a woman and a mandolin
under the moon
rumors of warm daybreak
Gypsy music in a dream

Honorable Mention, 2017 Bay Area Poets Coalition Contest

Neal Whitman


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

一隻獅子
一個女人和一把曼陀林
在月光之下
溫暖黎明的謠言
和睡夢中的吉普賽音樂

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

一只狮子
一个女人和一把曼陀林
在月光之下
温暖黎明的谣言
和睡梦中的吉普赛音乐


Bio Sketch

Neal Whitman lives in Pacific Grove, California, with his wife Elaine. He is the haiku editor for Pulse: Voices from the Heart of Medicine and is Vice President of the United Haiku and Tanka Society.

Butterfly Dream: Cold Snap Haiku by Nika

English Original

cold snap
a homeless man rides the bus
all day

Nika


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

寒流
一位遊民搭乘公車
一整天

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

寒流
一位游民搭乘公车
一整天


Bio Sketch

Nika is the pen name of retired educator Dr. Jim Force. He currently writes with The Heron’s Quill in Victoria where he is a member of Haiku Arbutus. His haiku have been widely published in journals and anthologies. He is particularly interested in creating collaborative haiga and linked verse.